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Issie Barratt: Every Solo Is A New Invitation
Issie Barratt is one of the most significant jazz educators in Britain today. From 1999-2004, Barratt was head of Jazz at Trinity College of Music but her role as Artistic Director of the National Youth Jazz Collective has been of even greater importance in developing young jazz talent. Now in its, thirteenth year, NYJC goes from strength to strength with a faculty of over seventy tutors, including many of the finest musicians in the country. Crucial in our very male ...
read moreNeyko Bodurov: Nikobo
Classically educated in Germany and the Netherlands, Bulgarian trumpeter/flugelhorn player Neyko Bodurov might have opted for a life-long career in those countries' chamber ensembles and orchestras. Instead, the thirty-seven-year old has followed his jazz muse. Once of the European Jazz Orchestra and the jazz department at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, Bodurov is the principal driving force behind the Varna Jazz Days Festival, held over two days in May, by the shore of The Black Sea. The music is clearly in his ...
read moreRabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges
Rabbit's Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges Con Chapman 240Pages ISBN: #9780190055288 Oxford University Press 2019 Alto and soprano saxophonist Johnny Hodges was one of the most singular voices in jazz. He didn't play the horn as much as sing through it. Hodges made a large, long-term contribution to the music, both as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and on his own. He was also a somewhat inscrutable, ...
read moreAudrey Ochoa: Frankenhorn
Trombonist Audrey Ochoa's Frankenhorn has a big, bold sound. The set was originally planned as a feature for duets with pianist Chris Andrew, with remixes by electronica DJ Battery Poacher. But things got out of hand, in the best sense of things. A rhythm section and strings and keyboard seasonings were brought into the mix, resulting in a sound that almost certainly tops a duet approach. Battery Poacher remixes show up on two of the tunes, “The Huggy ...
read moreMichael Jackson: Man in a Jazz Mirror - Part II
The second part of this week's special edition dedicated to jazz renditions of the songs of Michael Jackson (and the Jackson 5!) showcases a wide range of approaches, ranging from the muscular, to the atmospheric, deconstructivist and straight-ahead groovy, including a compare and contrast between Vijay Iyer's and Miles Davis cover of “Human Nature." At the end of the show, Jimmy Smith's precious collaboration with the King of Pop. [For the first part click here]
read moreJohn Abercrombie and Don Thompson: Yesterdays
The late John Abercrombie's outstanding and extensive recorded legacy includes two duet albums with fellow guitarist Ralph Towner, Sargasso Sea (ECM 2008) and Five Years Later (ECM, 2014), four Gateway trio albums (with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette), and three Baseline Trio albums (with bassist Hein Van de Geyn and drummer Joe LaBarbera). Like those albums, Yesterdays finds him at his guitar-picking best, collaborating on this one with bassist Don Thompson. Recorded live in 1992 at ...
read moreTony Adamo: Did Mark Murphy Believe in UFOS?
The interrogative title of this fine track shares an interesting insight, as well as its supposition. Whether the late singer literally did buy into UFOs--a la Sun Ra who saw “space as the place"--or he didn't is irrelevant. What is key is the fact that Mark Murphy has had a definitive and lasting impact on jazz vocalists today--and very much so on the High Prince of sing-speak, Tony Adamo who salutes Murphy on this infectious single. Further, the savvy integration ...
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Contest Giveaway
ELIGIBLE WINNERS: 5 | DAYS REMAINING: 27
Prize: Ragmala: A Garland Of Ragas by Adam Rudolph
World music pioneer Adam Rudolph and his groundbreaking Go: Organic Orchestra join forces with Brooklyn Raga Massive to create the monumental new album, Ragmala – A Garland of Ragas (Meta Records). Ragmala bridges generations, cultures and traditions in a deep-rooted, forward-looking sound born of 21st-century innovation and hybrid voices. Epic in scale and ambition, the project features 40 world-class musicians including Gnawa master musician Hassan Hakmoun, legendary drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, forward-thinking cornetist Graham Haynes, and tradition-blurring flutist...
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